TUCSON I

As much as we were enjoying ourselves, it was time to move on. Florida is still 1825 miles away. It's a good feeling heading to Tucson and Davis Monthan AFB. We know the campground has a fair system for assigning sites and we would have full hook-ups in no time. We have a repair appointment on the 20th for our tow wiring. It isn't legal to tow something without vehicle lighting on it. Ours has failed us and John problem-solved all the way back to the motorhome. So we need a place that can raise 14,000 lbs and get under it. 

Not the first Starbucks we came to, but mighty close. Five days without a latte is four too many.

Our home town has an ordinance requiring commercial projects to expend 1% of the budget for publicly accessible art or pay an in lieu fee. A flap ensued when recently a shopping center erected bronze figures of children playing. It was discovered that the works were sold on the internet. This was the second place we had seen similar ones.

Is it art or is it schlock?

We were lucky. We arrived an hour after closing and they still had four empty sites. We chose the one closest to the wifi and, the next morning, paid for several days. We don't come here for the park - it's kind of sterile and has fairly close together sites. It's all gravel with a few plants. But we have grown to like Tucson very much. JoAnn and Vic showed us the highlights years ago and we still head to AJ's Fine Foods and the Apple Store as soon as we arrive. Before anything, though, we had the pleasure of doing three weeks' laundry!

A portable observatory in a campsite. We see something new from fellow campers on every trip.

The parking pads and the patios are delineated with different colored rocks.

Is there such a thing as a 'railroad' laundry room? At any rate, it was immaculate and inexpensive.

Magnets mark some brilliant person's machines. Finally a use for all those magnets we collect.

The bathrooms are immaculate, too. Have you ever seen custom-made shower curtains?

Carole just can't resist one more sunset shot.

Or one more cat photo.

A cherimoya, ready to be eaten. The flesh scoops out of the shell
 and the seeds are discarded. It tastes like nothing else and they are
 grown around Fallbrook, CA.

We signed up for Escapees Mail Service and put in address changes for both of us at all three addresses (house and two PO boxes). You know what's coming next. Our dear neighbor, Betty H, called to tell us that mail was still being delivered to the house. We repeated the address changes for the house on-line and called the Santa Rosa Post Office and complained. It may have worked, since the mail seems to have stopped coming to the house. Betty will put what accumulated in a Priority envelope and send it to Tucson. We also called Escapees and asked for our first batch of mail to be sent to General Delivery. Tax documents should be arriving soon!

The very best part of this stop is the opportunity to see some friends. We have been anticipating this for a couple of months. Finally our paths will cross!

Our friends Jan and Maureen. We enjoyed lunch with them at Whole Foods.

The perfect intersection in Tucson, in our opinion, has Starbucks, Trader Joe's and our favorite used book store, Bookmans. 

Happiness is all these books.